System for tracking data security threats and method for same

ABSTRACT

An incident response system and method for tracking data security incidents in enterprise networks is disclosed. An Incident Manager application (IM) stores incident objects and incident artifacts (IAs) created in response to the incidents, where the incident objects include the information for the incident and the IAs are associated with data resources (e.g. IP addresses and malware hashes) identified within the incident objects. In response to creation of the IAs, the IM issues queries against one or more external threat intelligence sources (TISs) to obtain information associated with the IAs and augments the IAs with the obtained information. In examples, the IM can identify known threats by comparing the contents of IAs against TIS(s) of known threats, and can identify potential trends by correlating the created incident objects and augmented IAs for an incident with incident objects and IAs stored for other incidents.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/046,662, filed on Sep. 5, 2014, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A data security incident is a general term associated with manydifferent types of unauthorized activity involving devices and/orsensitive data. Examples of devices include computing devices such aslaptops, mobile phones, and application servers, and networking devicessuch as routers and firewalls. Examples of data security incidentsinclude lost or stolen information, lost or stolen devices, devicescompromised by malware or accessed without authorization, and internetbased cyber attacks.

Internet based cyber attacks upon enterprise networks of organizationscan create significant operational problems and serious financial andlegal risk for organizations. This is due to the disruption of businessand data losses that often result from these attacks. The attacksattempt to exploit security vulnerabilities of operating systems andsoftware running on computers and servers within enterprise networks ofthe organizations. Attackers exploit these security vulnerabilities tosteal proprietary data and confidential client records, and to disruptbusiness operations by introducing malicious computer programs orlaunching Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, in examples.

Organizations utilize incident management systems to maintaininformation about incidents and manage the response to data securityincidents. Current incident management systems and methods typicallyprovide the ability for Incident Response Team (IRT) members to trackhow the institution is responding to incidents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Threat Intelligence Sources (TISs) provide knowledge informationconcerning techniques, data resources, and identities of attackersinvolved in cyber attacks, in examples. The knowledge information can beused by the IRT to determine if their organization has been the targetof a cyber attack. Examples of data resources for which TIS(s) canprovide knowledge information include IP addresses of known “command andcontrol” servers used to control malware, file hashes associated withmalware, domain names, names of files, user account IDs, registry keys,email addresses, and/or protocol port numbers known to be used by anattacker. TIS(s) are often categorized by the knowledge information thatthey provide. Specifically, TISs are typically organized into firstlevel TIS(s) and second level TIS(s).

First level TISs typically include lists of known threats of a specifictype and return an indication for whether a data resource is associatedwith a known threat or cyber attack technique. In a typical example, afirst level TIS provides a Boolean result based on whether or not therequested data resource (e.g. IP addresses and file hashes) is includedwithin the TIS. In the event of a match or “hit,” the data resource isidentified to the requestor as a known threat.

Second level TIS(s) provide different types of knowledge informationthan first level TIS sources. Second level TIS(s) typically providemetadata and/or usage data about a data resource. The knowledgeinformation provided by the second level TISs can be in a variety offormats, ranging from structured data reports to unstructured documentsand email messages, in examples. Examples of second-level TIS(s) include“whois” systems that provide metadata for domain name data resources,geolocation databases that provide country and locale data in responseto a requested IP address data resource, and “traceroute” tools thatprovide traffic path trace information in response to a requested IPaddress data resource.

The knowledge information provided by second level TIS(s) does notnecessarily indicate that the data resource is a known threat or isassociated with suspicious activity. However, taken as a whole, theknowledge information can spot trends in usage of otherwise “good” dataresources that may indicate suspicious activity and therefore potentialtrends. For example, an IP address data resource that is not identifiedas a known threat after a lookup against a first level TIS (e.g. a“good” IP address data resource) may still be associated with suspicioustraffic activity. Specifically, an otherwise “good” IP address dataresource may be included in knowledge information obtained from a secondlevel TIS “whois” repository for a suspect domain name, where the domainname data resource included in the “whois” query has been recentlyassociated with Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in multiplecountries.

The present invention improves upon current incident management systems.An Incident Manager collaboration tool (IM) of the present invention canconsume a variety of cyber threat intelligence information for datasecurity incidents, and can track cyber attack activities and detecttrends across the data security incidents. In one example, the IM tracksthe data security incidents by creating incident objects that includeinformation for the incidents, creating incident artifacts (IAs) fordata resources identified within the incident objects, and saving theincident objects and IAs to an incident database. The stored incidentobjects and IAs are then available for future reference.

IRT personnel can then lookup details of the tracked incidents, such asthe IAs, against first and second level TIS(s) to obtain informationabout data security incidents that current incident response systems andmethods cannot provide. In one example, the IM can correlate theinformation obtained from the lookups of the IAs against the first andsecond level TISs to infer malicious activities, suspect behaviors, andpotential trends. By executing these actions across a large number ofIAs and threat intelligence sources, IRT members using the IM can detecttrends across the data security incidents, and rapidly gain insightabout suspicious activities that current incident management systemscannot provide and that IRT members cannot obtain manually.

In general, according to one aspect, the invention features a method fortracking data security incidents in an enterprise network. The methodcomprises creating, in an incident manager (IM), incident objects thatinclude information for the data security incidents and incidentartifacts (IAs) that include information for data resources identifiedwithin the incident objects, looking up the IAs in one or more externalthreat intelligence sources (TIS(s) to obtain knowledge informationconcerning the IAs, and augmenting the IAs with the knowledgeinformation concerning the IAs obtained from the TIS(s).

In one example, the creation of the incident objects and the incidentartifacts is accomplished by the IM in response to receiving messagessent from devices in the enterprise network, wherein the messagesinclude the information for the data security incidents. In anotherexample, creating the incident objects and the incident artifacts isaccomplished by Incident Response Team (IRT) personnel of the enterprisenetwork in response to the data security incidents. The IRT personnel ofthe enterprise network preferably augment the IAs to include informationconcerning the IAs.

Preferably, looking up the IAs in the one or more external TIS(s)further comprises querying first level TIS(s) to identify whether theIAs are associated with known threats, and querying second level TIS(s)to provide metadata and/or usage data for the IAs.

In one implementation, the method executes rules associated with theknown threats to provide an incident response to the data securityincidents. Typically, the method correlates the created incident objectsand the augmented IAs, with other incident objects and IAs stored in theIM associated with other data security incidents, to identify potentialtrends in the correlated data. Then, the method executes rulesassociated with the identified potential trends to provide an incidentresponse to the data security incidents.

Typically, the incident objects and the incident artifacts are stored inan incident database included within the IM. In examples, the dataresources identified within the incident objects include InternetProtocol (IP) addresses, file hashes associated with malware, domainnames, names of files, user account IDs, registry keys, email addresses,and/or protocol port numbers.

In examples, the external TIS(s) include first level TIS(s) of knownthreats including IP address blacklist and malware hash information, andinclude second level TIS(s) including whois, geolocation, and tracerouteinformation.

In general, according to another aspect, the invention features anincident response system for tracking data security incidents in anenterprise network. The system includes one or more external threatintelligence sources (TIS(s)) that respond to queries with knowledgeinformation concerning requested data resources, and an incident manager(IM).

The incident manager (IM) can store incident objects and incidentartifacts (IAs) created in response to the data security incidents,wherein the incident objects include information for the data securityincidents and the IAs include information for data resources identifiedwithin the incident objects. The IM also provides the IAs as therequested data resources in queries to the one or more external threatinformation sources to obtain knowledge information concerning the IAs,and augments the IAs with the knowledge information concerning the IAsobtained from the one or more external threat information sources.

The above and other features of the invention including various noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts, and other advantages,will now be more particularly described with reference to theaccompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will beunderstood that the particular method and device embodying the inventionare shown by way of illustration and not as a limitation of theinvention. The principles and features of this invention may be employedin various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, reference characters refer to the sameparts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarilyto scale; emphasis has instead been placed upon illustrating theprinciples of the invention. Of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an incident management system thatincludes a cloud embodiment of an incident manager collaboration tool(IM) to which the present invention relates, where one or more IMs areincluded within a service network and each IM manages the incidentresponse for a separate client enterprise network;

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of an incident management systemincluding an on-premises embodiment of an IM, where the IM is includedwithin the client enterprise network for which the IM manages theincident response;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that shows how Incident Response Team (IRT)personnel configure login credentials of TIS(s) within an IM, where theIM manages the incident response for exemplary enterprise network clientACME Company;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that shows how the IM for the enterprisenetwork of ACME Company provides an incident response for a suspiciousfile download data security incident, where the suspicious file downloadis detected by a device within ACME Company's enterprise network;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that provides more detail for the flow diagramof FIG. 4, where FIG. 5 shows how the IM executes an incident responsefor data resources that the IM identifies from the information of thedata security incident, and where the IM queries first level TISs todetermine whether the data resources are associated with known threats;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that provides more detail for the flow diagramof FIG. 4, where FIG. 6 shows how the IM queries second level TISs; and

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram that provides more detail for the flow diagramof FIG. 4, where FIG. 7 shows how the IM executes an incident responsefor potential trends that the IM identifies from correlating theinformation of the data security incident with information obtained fromthe second level TISs and with information stored on the IM associatedwith other data security incidents.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrativeembodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. Further, the singular formsand the articles “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be furtherunderstood that the terms: includes, comprises, including and/orcomprising, when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof. Further, it will be understood that when anelement, including component or subsystem, is referred to and/or shownas being connected or coupled to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent.

FIG. 1 shows a cloud embodiment of one or more incident managercollaboration tool applications (IM) 102 within an incident managementsystem 10. Preferably, an IM 102 is implemented an internet-accessiblemanaged service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS) application. TheIMs 102 are hosted within an application server 140. The applicationserver 140 is included within a service network 132.

IM(s) 102-1, 102-2, and 102-3 manage the incident response forenterprise networks 131 of exemplary organizations ACME Company,BigCorp, and CamCorp, respectively. The enterprise network 131 of ACMECompany is shown. The application server 140 provides security andmutual exclusion of the data for each IM 102. Each IM 102 communicateswith its associated enterprise network 131 over a network cloud 26.

The enterprise network 131 of each organization includes a number ofdevices. These include computing devices, database systems, and datanetworking devices such as routers 34 firewalls 36 and configurationservers 63, in examples. The enterprise network 131 typically connectsto the network cloud 26 via a firewall 36 device. The firewall 36typically provides a single point of connection for each organization'senterprise network 131 to the network cloud 26. The network cloud 26 canbe a private network, or a public network such as the Internet, inexamples. The configuration server 63 includes a config API 39 thatenables an external client such as the IM 102 to execute actions ondevices within the client's enterprise network 131. Preferably, via itsconfig API 39, the configuration server 63 acts as a proxy for the IM102 to execute actions on remote devices in the enterprise networks 131of the clients.

In the example enterprise network 131 for ACME Company, the firewall 36also typically connects to a corporate network 70 of the enterprisenetwork 131. A router 34 connects the corporate network 70 to a localnetwork 72. The local network 72 also includes devices such as a useraccount database 58 including user accounts 60, and access server 160including a web browser 150, and a security information and eventmanager (SIEM) 37.

Personnel typically associated with an Incident Response Team (“IRT”)172 access the IM 102 via the browser 150. The browser 150, in oneexample, presents a graphical user interface (GUI) application formanaging and interacting with the IM 102.

The members of the IRT 172 can also communicate with the IM 102 usingweb browsers 150 or stand-alone applications running on user devicessuch as tablet devices, where the application server 140 additionallyfunctions as a web server.

The IM 102 includes an application interface 134 that provides access tothe IM 102 for users such as IRT personnel 172. The IM 102 also includesan incident database 122 that stores incident objects 121 and incidentartifacts (IAs) 120, a correlation engine 170, and a rules engine 178that includes rules 180. The IM 102 also includes a Threat IntelligenceSource (TIS) protocol interface 132, and a TIS configuration repository128. A REST (REpresentational State Transfer) API 82 sits on top of theTIS protocol interface 132.

REST is a simple client/server based way to organize interactionsbetween independent systems. The REST API 82 enables specific two-waycommunications between the IM 102 and external devices in the enterprisenetwork 131 that do not otherwise have access to the IM's more featurerich application interface 134. In the current implementation, the RESTAPI 82 is typically limited to providing the ability for externalsystems to create incident objects 121 and IAs 120 in the IM 120. Anexample REST connection between the router 34 and the IM 102 via theREST API 82 is indicated by reference 61.

External TIS(s) such as first level TIS(s) 20 and second level TIS(s) 30communicate with each IM 102 via its TIS protocol interface 132. In oneexample, TIS(s) include files that in turn include the threat dataresources, and the IMs 102 periodically download the files from theTIS(s). In another example, after IAs 120 are recorded by the IM 102,the IM 102 reads the contents of the recorded IAs. If the recorded IA120 includes any threat data resources, the IM 102 issues real-timequeries to an Application Programming Interface (API) of one or moreTIS(s) to obtain more information about the threat data resources.

First level TIS(s) 20 include IP address blacklist TIS(s) 130-1 thatinclude IP address known threats, and malware hash TIS(s) 130-2 thatinclude hashes/signatures for malware known threats, in examples.Second-level TIS(s) 30 include “whois” TIS(s) 130-3 that providemetadata for requested domain name data resources, geolocation TIS(s)130-4 that provide country and locale data in response to a requested IPaddress data resource, and “traceroute” TIS(s) 130-5 that providetraffic path trace information in response to a requested IP addressdata resource, in examples. Login credentials 136 for accessing eachTIS(s) 130 are included within the TIS configuration repository 128.

System managers within the service network 132 use an expert system 190to create, configure, and update the IM(s) 102 for all managed clientorganizations. Via the expert system 190, service managers can updatethe capabilities of each IM 102 and update the services each IM 102provides to its clients.

In the current embodiment, the expert system 190 is an applicationrunning within the application server 140. The expert system 190 allowssystem managers to send management information 54 to individual IMsand/or across multiple IMs 102 at once. The management information 54typically includes control messages and associated data for configuringthe IMs and updating its software components. In one example, to enhanceor restrict client access to data and resources provided by an IM 102,system managers send management information 54 that includesinstructions and executable software for updating the applicationinterface 134 of the IM 102.

The rules engine 178 generates a list of tasks 192 for an IM 102 or IRTpersonnel 172 to execute in response to data security incidents. Thetasks 192 include recommended actions that should be taken to provide anincident response to the data security incidents. Note that the rulesengine 178 can also be programmed to automatically execute actions inresponse to incidents, such as instructing the firewall 36 to blockaccess to certain IP addresses or suspicious protocol ports in responseto a data security incident. In other examples, the expert system 190can also provide the same functions as the rules engine 178 on behalf ofeach organization that it manages.

The incident database 122 includes incident objects 121 and incidentartifacts (IAs) 120. The incident objects 121 include information forthe data security incidents and the IAs 120 include information for dataresources identified within the incident objects 121.

The IAs 120 can have a one-to-many relationship with the incidentobjects 121 and can be edited/augmented by IRT personnel 172 or the IM102 to include new information. For example, when the IM 102 identifiesan IP address data resource within a newly created incident object 121,the IM 102 can first search the incident database 122 to determine if anIA 120 for the same IP address data resource already exists. If the IA120 already exists, the IM 102 can “link” or associate the existing IA120 with the newly created incident object 121. The IM 102 can thenannotate the existing IA 120 with information obtained from the newlycreated incident object 121. Moreover, the fact that the same IA 120 islinked with multiple incidents (e.g. multiple incident objects 121) isalso a useful indicator of a pattern or trend when analyzing incidents.

In a specific example, an IRT member 172 creates an incident object 121within the IM 102 for an incident that occurred in an enterprise network131. The incident object 121 includes a suspicious IP address dataresource, “1.1.1.1.” The IM 102 parses the incident object 121,identifies IP address 1.1.1.1 as a data resource, and creates an IA 120for the identified IP address data resource (e.g. 1.1.1.1) and saves theIA 120 to the incident database 122. Then, the IM 102 executes a lookupof the IA 120 for IP address 1.1.1.1 against a first level TIS(s) 20such as an IP address blacklist TIS 130-1 to determine whether the IPaddress is a known threat. In response to the determination, the IM 102follows a pre-determined set of rules 180 in the rules engine 178 andcan then recommend a course of action for IRT personnel 172 to follow inresponse to the determination of the threat.

Then, the IM 102 can additionally lookup the IA 120 for IP address1.1.1.1 against one or more second level TIS(s) 30 to obtain metadataand usage data for the IP address. The metadata and usage data obtainedcan be used separately from or in conjunction with the informationobtained from the lookup of the IA 120 against the first level TIS(s)20. In an example, while the IA for IP address 1.1.1.1 may not beassociated with a known threat in the IP address blacklist first levelTIS 130-1, the same IA 120/IP address 1.1.1.1 could be included as aspoofed source IP address within a suspicious data traffic trace entryhosted by traceroute second level TIS 130-5. IRT members 172 or the IM102 itself can then annotate the IA 120 for IP address 1.1.1.1 toreflect this potential trend information. This improves both the cyberthreat knowledge that the IM 102 provides and the ability of the IM 102to detect and predict future cyber threats.

It is also important to note that in addition to IRT personnel 172creating the incident objects 121 and incident artifacts 120 in responseto incidents, the IM 102 itself can also create the incident objects 121and the incident artifacts 120 in response to receiving messages sentfrom devices in the enterprise network 131 such as the firewall 36. Themessages include the information for the data security incidents. The IM102 extracts the information for the data security incidents from themessages and include the information within the incident objects 121 andIAs 120. In one example, the messages can include the contents of datapackets sent between devices communicating over the enterprise network131 that has been captured by a data traffic capture application.

FIG. 2 shows a system diagram of an “on premises” preferred embodimentof an IM 102 within an incident management system 10. The IM 102 ishosted on an application server 140 included within each enterprisenetwork 131 for which the IM 102 tracks the data security incidents.

This embodiment provides local access to the IM 102 for IRT personnel172 of the enterprise network 131. In one example, the service network132 in the preferred embodiment is limited to the expert system 190 forcommunicating with each organization's IM 102 via its TIS protocolinterface 132.

FIG. 3 is an example method for configuring login credentials 136 toenable an IM 102 to access TIS(s) 130.

IRT personnel 172 within ACME Company's enterprise network 131 accessthe ACME (IM) 102 via a browser 150 running on the application server140, in step 302. Then, in step 304, IRT personnel 172 configure logincredentials 136 of external first level 20 TIS(s) 130-1 and 130-2 andsecond level 30 TIS(s) 130-3 through 130-5. In step 306, The IRTpersonnel 172 save the configured login credentials 136 to the TISconfiguration repository 128 of the IM 102.

FIG. 4 provides an example for how the IM 102 tracks data securityincidents.

In step 406, a data security incident is detected, e.g., a datanetworking device such as a router 34 or firewall 36 in ACME Company'scorporate network 70 detects data associated with a significant increasein download activity for a specific file, and sends data associated withthe incident in messages to the ACME IM 102-1.

According to step 408, the ACME IM 102-1 receives messages includinginformation associated with the detected data security incident, andnotifies IRT 172 members in response.

In step 410, in response to notification from ACME's IM 102, an incidentobject 121 is created within the IM 102 to track the data securityincident. In one example, the IM 102 automatically creates the incidentobject 121 in response to receiving the messages including theinformation associated with the detected data security incident. Inanother example, IRT personnel 172 create the incident objects 121manually within the IM 102 via the application interface 134.

In step 412, the ACME IM 102 detects creation of the incident object 121and optionally creation of IAs 120 associated with the incident, andparses their contents to identify any included data resources (e.g. IPaddresses and the md5 hash for the downloaded file) within the incidentobject 121, and creates IAs 120 for the data resources identified withinthe incident object 121. As in step 410 for the creation of the incidentobjects 121, the IAs 120 can be created automatically by the IM 102 ormanually by the IRT personnel 172. The IAs can also be created or addedat a later time. Then, in step 414, the ACME IM 102-1 issues queries tofirst level TIS(s) 20 configured in the TIS configuration repository128, to determine whether the IAs 120 (e.g. md5 hash for downloaded fileand/or IP addresses of downloaded packets) for the incident object 121are identified as known threats.

According to step 416, if any known threats are identified, the methodtransitions to step 418. In step 418, the IM 102 indicates thiscondition to the users of the IM 102 and optionally executes rules 180in the rules engine 178 associated with the known threats to provide anincident response to the data security incident. The method transitionsto step 440 upon conclusion of step 418, and also when if no actualthreats are identified in step 416.

FIG. 5 provides detail for step 418 of FIG. 4.

In step 420, the IM 102 executes a lookup of known threats (e.g. the IPaddresses and/or hash for downloaded file data resources) against theRules engine 178. If any rules 180 in the rules engine 178 have an IAtype that matches the IA type of the known threats in step 422, themethod transitions to step 424 and executes the matching rules.Otherwise, the method executes a default rule in step 426 andtransitions to step 434.

Steps 428 through 432 describe exemplary actions for the matching rulesexecuted in step 424.

In step 428, the IM 102 generates tasks 192 for IRT personnel 172 toexecute in response to the identified known threats. According to step430, using the config API 39 of the configuration server 63, the IM 102instructs reconfiguration of network devices within the client'senterprise network 131, e.g., send a message over the network cloud 26to the configuration server 63 via the firewall 36, where the messageincludes instructions to block the bad IP addresses on the router 34 ofthe enterprise network 131. The config API 39 receives the message andforwards the message to the router 34 for execution on the router 34 instep 432, in one example.

In step 434, using the config API 39 of the configuration server 63, theIM 102 instructs reconfiguration of user accounts 60 within the client'senterprise network 131, e.g., send a message over the network cloud 26to the user account database 58, where the message includes instructionsto disable the user account 60 of the user that downloaded the maliciousfile. The config API 39 receives the message and forwards the message tothe user account database 58 for execution on the user account database58 in step 436, in another aspect of this example.

Finally, in step 438, the IM 102 indicates to IRT members 172 that knownthreats were identified for the bad IP addresses and/or the maliciousdownload files, and indicate the actions which were taken automaticallyby the system. Note that step 438 is reached upon conclusion of bothsteps 426 and 436.

Returning to FIG. 4, in step 440, the ACME IM 102 queries the secondlevel TIS(s) 30 configured in the TIS configuration repository 128, toobtain metadata and usage data for the identified IAs 120 within theincident object 121, and augments the IAs 120 with the obtained queryresults.

FIG. 6 provides detail for step 440 of FIG. 4.

In step 442, the IM 102 queries a traffic trace “traceroute” TIS 130-5to obtain network traffic trace data for IA 120 s associated withrequested IP address data resources, where the network traffic tracedata can detect repeated appearances of the IP address and/or patternsof traffic from suspicious subnets, in one example. In step 444, the IM102 queries a “whois” TIS 130-3 to obtain registrar, domain name, andregistrant information for IAs 120 associated with the current IPaddress and other relevant IP addresses. According to step 446, the IM102 queries a geolocation TIS 130-4 to obtain country and locale datafor IAs associated with IP addresses. Finally, in step 448, the IM 102augments the identified IAs 120 with any knowledge information obtainedfrom the queries of the second level TIS(s) 30.

Returning to FIG. 4, in step 452, the correlation engine 170 correlatesthe contents of incident objects 121 created and stored for the currentdata security incident and the augmented IAs 120, with other incidentobjects 121 and their associated IAs 121 stored in the incident database122, to identify potential trends in the correlated data. In oneexample, the correlation includes searching for common attributes amongthe incident objects 121 and their IAs 120, and identifying anystatistically significant correlations across the incident objects 121and the IAs 120.

The other incident objects 121 and their associated IAs 120 includedetails of other incidents of many different types and that occurred atdifferent times. Though the various incidents for which the incidentobjects 121 and IAs 120 were created may appear at first glance to beindependent or unrelated, trends across the incident objects 121 and IAs120 can be obtained by comparing and contrasting their contentscollectively.

If any potential trends were identified in step 458, the methodtransitions to step 470. Otherwise, the incident response methodterminates in step 492 to end the tracking of the data securityincidents.

FIG. 7 provides detail for step 470 of FIG. 4.

In step 472, the IM 102 executes a lookup of identified potential trends(e.g. the same IP address for the original downloaded file was found intraffic traces associated with malware having different md5 hashes)against the rules engine 178. If any rules 180 in the rules engine 178have an IA type that matches the IA type of the identified potentialtrends in step 474, the method transitions to step 476 and executes thematching rules. Otherwise, the method executes a default rule in step478 and transitions to step 490.

Steps 480 through 484 describe exemplary actions for the matching rulesexecuted in step 476.

In step 480, the IM 102 generates tasks 192 associated with theidentified potential trends for IRT personnel 172 to execute to providean incident response to the data security incidents. According to step482, using the configAPI 39 of the of the configuration server 63, theIM 102 instructs reconfiguration of network devices within the client'senterprise network 131, e.g., send a message over the network cloud 26to the firewall 36, where the message includes instructions to block thebad IP addresses on the firewall 36 that protects the corporate network70 of the enterprise network 131. The config API 39 receives themessage, and forwards the message to the firewall 36 for execution onthe firewall 36 in step 484.

Finally, in step 490, the IM 102 indicates to IRT members 172 thatpotential trends were identified, where the potential trends areassociated with the same bad IP addresses and/or the malicious downloadfiles identified in step 472, and indicate the actions which were takenautomatically by the system. Note that step 490 is reached uponconclusion of both steps 484 and 478.

Returning to FIG. 4, the IM 102 completes its tracking of data securityincidents in step 492.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreferences to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the scope of the inventionencompassed by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for tracking data security incidents in an enterprise network, the method comprising: creating, in an incident manager (IM), incident objects that include information for the data security incidents and incident artifacts (IAs) that include information for data resources identified within the incident objects, wherein an IA is distinct from an incident object, wherein upon a determination that a newly-created incident object includes a data security incident associated with an existing data resource, an existing IA associated with that existing data resource is linked to the newly-created incident object, such that different incident objects can then refer to the same IA; looking up the IAs in one or more external threat intelligence sources (TIS(s)) to obtain knowledge information concerning the IAs, wherein at least one external TIS is a file accessible via a software interface, and wherein looking up the IAs comprises querying one or more first level TIS(s) to identify whether the IAs are associated with known threats, and querying one or more second level TIS(s) to provide metadata and/or usage data for the IAs; augmenting the IAs with the knowledge information concerning the IAs obtained from the TIS(s); and executing rules associated with the known threats to provide an incident response to the data security incidents.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the incident objects and the incident artifacts is accomplished by the IM in response to receiving messages sent from devices in the enterprise network, wherein the messages include the information for the data security incidents.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the incident objects and the incident artifacts, is accomplished by receiving information from Incident Response Team (IRT) personnel of the enterprise network in response to the data security incidents.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information from Incident Response Team (IRT) personnel of the enterprise network augmenting the IAs to include information concerning the IAs.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising correlating the created incident objects and the augmented IAs, with other incident objects and IAs stored in the IM associated with other data security incidents, to identify potential trends in the correlated data.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising executing rules associated with the identified potential trends to provide an incident response to the data security incidents.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the incident objects and the IAs in an incident database included within the IM.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data resources identified within the incident objects include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, file hashes associated with malware, domain names, names of files, user account IDs, registry keys, email addresses, and/or protocol port numbers.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the external TIS(s) include first level TIS(s) of known threats including IP address blacklist and malware hash information.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the external TIS(s) include second level TIS(s) including whois, geolocation, and traceroute information.
 11. An incident response system for tracking data security incidents in an enterprise network, comprising: one or more external threat intelligence sources (TIS(s)) that respond to queries with knowledge information concerning requested data resources, wherein at least one external TIS is a file accessible via a software interface; and an incident manager (IM) that: stores incident objects and incident artifacts (IAs) created in response to the data security incidents, wherein the incident objects include information for the data security incidents and the lAs include information for data resources identified within the incident objects, wherein an IA is distinct from an incident object, and wherein upon a determination that a newly-created incident object includes a data security incident associated with an existing data resource, an existing IA associated with that existing data resource is linked to the newly-created incident object, such that different incident objects can then refer to the same IA; provides the IAs as the requested data resources in queries to the one or more external threat information sources to obtain knowledge information concerning the IAs, wherein the external TIS(s) include one or more first level TIS(s) that provide an indication whether the IAs are associated with known threats, and one or more second level TIS(s) that provide metadata and/or usage data for the IAs; augments the IAs with the knowledge information concerning the IAs obtained from the one or more external threat information sources; and execute rules associated with the known threats to provide an incident response to the data security incidents.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the information for the data security incidents are included within messages sent from devices in the enterprise network, and wherein the IM creates the incident objects and the IAs in response to receiving the messages.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the IM receives information from Incident Response Team (IRT) personnel of the enterprise network create the incident objects and the IAs in response to the data security incidents.
 14. The system of claim 11, further comprising the IM receiving information from Incident Response Team (IRT) personnel of the enterprise network augmenting the IAs with information concerning the IAs.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the IM includes a correlation engine that correlates the stored incident objects and the augmented IAs with other incident objects and IAs stored in the IM to identify potential trends in the correlated data.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the IM includes a rules engine including rules, and wherein the rules engine executes rules associated with the identified potential trends to provide an incident response to the data security incidents.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the IM includes an incident database that stores the incident objects and the IAs.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein the data resources identified within the incident objects include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, file hashes associated with malware, domain names, names of files, user account IDs, registry keys, email addresses, and/or protocol port numbers.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the external TIS(s) include first level TIS(s) including IP address blacklist and malware hash information.
 20. The system of claim 11, wherein the external TIS(s) include second level TIS(s) including whois, geolocation, and traceroute information. 